The Masquerade Ball
by Fifi.Brown
Summary: What do you do if you're a villainess with no villainy to commit? Crash a party of course! But Dominator may get more than she bargained for when she meets up with a certain wandering weirdo.
1. Chapter 1

She couldn't remember the last time she had been so bored. You would think that being the galaxy's number one super villain would be a non-stop thrill ride of action and mayhem with something new around every corner. But on this particular occasion, Lord Dominator was running seriously low on things to keep her interested. She could have gone out to destroy some random dork planet, but she had more than enough Volcaniom X to last her ship and robot army for a good few weeks and it's not as if it required a whole lot of effort anyway. She had used some spare robot probes for target practice by shooting lava and ice bullets at them, but eventually that became tedious and mind-numbingly dull considering she was already a great shot. By this point she was reduced to lazing around on her throne flipping through TV channels, browsing the internet on her laptop and rambling to herself.

"Ugh! Grop damn this nowhere hick galaxy! Isn't there anything going on today!? I swear, if I don't find something to pass the time I'm gonna go nuts! Heck, I'm already talking to myself out of sheer boredom! I don't even care what it is, just let something happen already!"

 **BOOOOM!**

As if by some divine intervention to answer her vocal wish, something had crashed into the side of her star ship making the villainess jump slightly.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but I'll take what I can get. Maybe I'll spend the rest of the day torturing the unlucky saps for crashing into my ship"

The 'unlucky saps' were a pair of mailmen that were scrambling to get their ship working again after a navigation malfunction sent them seriously off course and ended up crashing the front half of it into Dominator's ship.

"OHMYGROP! Dude, do you know whose ship this is!? We're so dead if dominator catches us!" exclaimed one of them in full panic mode.

"I KNOW! I KNOW! Just give me a second to try and-"

His reply was cut short as several dom-bots surrounded them, guns aiming right at their heads followed by their villainess mistress.

"You idiots had better have a good explanation for barging onto my ship!" growled Dominator flaring her lava hands ready to blast them into oblivion.

"Uh-um…w-well, you see, the thing is…uh it's actually a funny s-s-story… w-w-w-we were just d-doing our usual route and u-um well things g-got k-k-kind of messed up- "stammered one mailman nervously while desperately trying to think of a decent excuse. Unfortunately his hesitation to give a proper answer as well as his stuttering only made her more irritated.

"UGH! SHUT UP! I'm not going to stand here and listen your stupid blabbering, so how about I move things along. I'm going to count down from five, and unless you guys can give any reason not to, I'm going to make this the worst and final day of your miserable lives, got it?" said Dominator flashing a devilish smile turning the mailmen's faces deathly pale.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL US MISS DOMINATOR IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I SWEAR!" cried the other mailman hands clenched together begging, this only made her chuckle with glee as she began counting down.

"Five!"

The first mailman was scrambling in sheer panic in his mail satchel to find anything to make her reconsider or at least spare their lives for a few more precious seconds while his companion continued crying miserably for mercy.

"Four!"

"Um… how about these coupons for free manicures at Planet Zilon's spa and beauty Resort!?"

"Three!"

"Or what about these birthday cards full of cash!?"

"Two!"

Before the deadly countdown ended he pulled out his last resort that he hoped for dear life would slow her down.

"THERE'S AN INVITATION TO A MASQUERADE PARTY ON PLANET MEOWZOLON!"

"On- huh? An invitation you say?"

Seizing this opportunity and mentally thanking Grop or whatever deity above for sparing them, the still terrified mailman answered.

"YES! Ahem, yes, an invitation you can tell it's from Meowzolon from the Royal Family insignia on the wax seal".

"Hand it over"

Not wasting any precious time he quickly, but cautiously, went over to the now curious villainess and handed her letter before he sprinted back into the corner with his companion whom by now was close to fainting from all the suspense. The envelope was elegantly decorated on each corner with gold patterns of flowered vines and just as the mailman said the wax seal was of a feline paw-print within a crown surrounded by four pointed stars, the symbol of Meowzolonian Royal Family. Dominator proceeded to unceremoniously tear open the envelope, pulled out its contents and started reading the invite.

"To Lady Hiznoople, pfft that's a stupid name! You have been invited to attend a masquerade ball at the royal palace of planet Meowzolon to celebrate the King and Queen's 50th wedding anniversary. Should you decide to attend, please present the enclosed golden ticket to the attendants at the palace gates upon your arrival, Sincerely the Meowzolon Royal Family. Boy they sure don't waste any time getting to the point do they? Hmmm the date says the party's next week"

There was a moment of long uncomfortable silence as Dominator considered this opportunity fate had given her, 'huh this could be interesting, it'd certainly be better than being bored out of my skull on the ship all day and if it turns into a snooze-fest I can just call my Dom-bots to come crash the party! Now that sounds like a fun time!' she thought wickedly as an evil smirk spread across her face, this reaction did not ease the mailmen's increasing dread.

"U-u-umm Miss Dominator?"

"Huh? Oh, I forgot about you two losers. Well good news idiots! Since you've given me something worth my attention, you ain't dying today!"

This news made the pair of them practically deflate with relief, only to freeze up over the sudden wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Unless you can outrun my robots that is!"

And no sooner had she said that, her robots began shooting relentlessly at the mailmen making them jump, duck and dodge frantically to avoid the lasers. With nowhere else to escape they both ran screaming down one of the many battleships hallways with Dominator's robots in pursuit, leaving their mistress cackling to herself.

"Hahahaha! That never gets old! Now let's see, I got a week until this little shindig, first thing I got to do is find out what I'm gonna wear!"

With new vigour and enthusiasm she then headed straight to her living quarters to start her plans for what she hoped would be a night that no one will forget.


	2. Chapter 2

On a small quaint little planet, an orange furry vagabond and his blue Zbornak companion were catching some Z's under a shady tree. Just then along came a little alien postman on a hover scooter carrying a full satchel.

"Ahem! Excuse me, are you Wander and Sylvia? Some folks in the nearby town said I could find them around here?"

Wander tipped his hat and replied cheerfully,

"Eeyup that's us! Pleasure to meet ya!"

"Oh thanks, great to meet you too! Boy you really live up to your name don't you? Had one heck of a time trying to find you guys. Anyways I've got a special delivery for both of you"

He then started rummaging through his satchel and presented them with a fancy-looking letter with a wax seal.

"Thank you kindly Mr Mailman!"

"My pleasure you have a good day now!"

The little alien then speeded away on his scooter to continue his route while Wander waved goodbye happily before turning his attention to the received letter, 'I'd know that insignia anywhere, it's from the Meowzolonian Royal Family! Better wake up Sylvia, she'll definitely want to see this'.

"Oh Sylvia, hey Syl, wakey wakey eggs 'n' bakey" whispers Wander while gently nudging his friends muzzle.

"Mmmmm…not now Ma…just five more minutes…zzzz" mumbled the Zbornak before slipping back into dreamland.

"Huh well, guess this calls for plan B, though I sure hate disappointing her" Wander then leans in on Sylvia's ear and says.

"Wake up Sylvia, there's a big monster made entirely out of jellyfish pie coming this way!"

Sylvia's eyes then popped open as wide as dinner plates and she immediately leaped up into full fight mode.

"WHERE IS IT!? WHERE IS IT!? I'll beat 'em and then I'll eat 'em! I'll-"

Her hungry rant was cut short when she saw no one but her best buddy standing beside her with a 'sorry-for-tricking-you' look on his face.

"You do realise you owe me a jellyfish pie now right?" said the clearly disappointed Zbornak.

"Consider it done pal, but first I got this to show you!" He then presented the letter to Sylvia.

"Hey that's the symbol for that Royal Family, what were they called again? The Meowzies? The Meowzoos?"

"The Meowzolons"

"Yeah, that's it. Boy haven't seen them since we rescued the princess from becoming one of Emperor Awesome's groupies"

"Well let's see what we got here" Wander then broke the wax seal, took out the letter inside and started reading aloud, "To Sir Wander and Lady Sylvia, this is a personally written invitation to attend a Masquerade Ball at the royal palace of planet Meowzolon to celebrate the King and Queen's 50th wedding anniversary as well as our way of properly thanking you for your heroic deed to our family, aww how sweet! If you should decide to attend please present the enclosed golden tickets to the attendants at the palace gates upon your arrival, sincerely King Clawdius and Queen Purrlina. Gosh it's not every day you get a personal invitation from a king and queen, is it Sylvia?"

"It sure isn't, but to tell you the truth buddy I'm not really sure I want to go"

"Huh? Why not Syl?"

"A ball at a royal palace seems way too fancy-shmancy for my taste, plus it just sounds real boring anyway. It'll probably be full of snooty, up-start nobles bragging about themselves"

"Maybe, but still I'd feel bad turning down a special invitation like this, they want to thank us properly in person. And besides we haven't got anything important planned for that evening, so why not check it out, and if it does turn out to be boring then we can leave right after meeting with the King and Queen. How about it Sylvia?"

The Zbornak considered this for a moment, she knew her best pal really just wants to be polite, his reasoning also did make a lot of sense and she figured it'd probably look bad for them to turn down such a rare privilege.

"Awww heck why not, it might be interesting and your right it's not like we having anything else going on so why waste the opportunity?"

"That's the spirit Sylvia! Now let's see, it's a Masquerade party so that means we'll need to find some outfits and masks for the occasion. I think I recall seeing a fancy dress shop in the last town we were in"

"Then lets head on over and get shopping"

Just then a loud growl could be heard rumbling from Sylvia's stomach making her blush with embarrassment.

"Oops, almost forgot, let's get you that Jellyfish pie first!"

"Sounds like a plan to me buddy!"

With that Wander hopped onto Sylvia's back enthusiastically and the pair rode off completely unaware of a certain someone who had been spying on them from the tree they had slept under. With ninja stealth he then landed silently on the ground revealing himself to be a watchdog spy.

"Lord Hater will definitely want to hear about this!"

"FOR THE HUNDRETH TIME! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT PEEPERS!"

"I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO SIR BUT YOU'VE GOT TO!"

Two pairs of angry voices rang out throughout the hallways of the skull-shaped star ship. This was not an uncommon occurrence, in fact this happened every other day, so to the countless number of watchdogs occupying said ship, it came as no surprise that their leader and second-in-command were once again arguing about what was the top priority. As usual Lord Hater was obsessing over tracking down and finding a way to destroy his number one enemy and constant annoyance Wander, and as usual the more competent Commander Peepers was trying to convince his boss and occasional friend of more pressing concerns.

"Sir, we really NEED to address these issues! The tech aboard our ship is in desperate need of upgrading and some things even need to be replaced, heck even some of our weaponry is outdated!"

"And what's your point Peeps!?"

"My point is that while other villains in the galaxy are using sophisticated, high-tech, state of the art, updated technology to give them and their armies an edge in battle; we are still using the same old outdated gadgets and equipment that aren't nearly as effective. I hear Emperor Awesome has equipped his fist fighters with Gamaroneon assault rifles! That's like one of the most OP guns you can get!" explained Peepers.

"Ugh, well then just go out and buy us some cool new stuff instead of nagging me about it!" grumbled Hater trying desperately to get out of what he thought was a very boring conversation.

"That's another issue sir, those things cost huge amounts of cash which sadly we are also running very low on"

"Huh? I thought we had loads of doe after we plundered the treasury of planet Mintad 5"

"Yes we did, that is until SOMEONE decided to splurge on designer-made robes, video games, death metal albums and another make-out room for the ship! I mean what hell man?!"

"Hey, you never know when Lord D decides she can't resist the Hate-Man no longer and comes a knockin' for some lovin'!" swooned Hater with his usual over inflated bravado.

This only made Peepers face palm himself with a disgruntled sigh. He was about to continue his desperate plea to reason with his master when a fellow watchdog that he recognised as part of the Stealth and Covert Division came running up to them looking rather excited.

"Watchdog Agent Phil with a report update for you Sir!" he saluted formally after catching his breath.

"Not now Phil, we're kind of in the middle of something here!" replied Peepers in frustration.

"But sir it's about Wander and Sylvia!"

At hearing those two dreaded names Commander Peepers knew he'd completely lost the argument as his overly obsessive boss turned all attention to the other watchdog.

"What is it Phil!? Have you located where they are right now!?"

"Yes I have sir, but that's not the only exciting news I have to report. I overheard them reading an invitation they received from Planet Meowzolon"

This bit of information immediately caught Peeper's attention.

"It turns out they've been invited to a Masquerade Ball that will be held at the royal palace next week, it was a personally written invite from the King and Queen apparently"

"Ugh! Why am I not surprised that that little goody two-shoes gets special treatment even from royalty!? I'll bet all he did to earn it was tie the King's shoe laces or something stupid like that! Humph!" huffed the very obviously jealous villain angrily pouting.

This news however gave Peepers a brainstorm of an idea! From his knowledge of Meowzolon he knew they were extremely adept at creating advanced technology and weaponry which could be a real asset to them if they could get a hold of some of it.

"Lord Hater Sir! This could be the solution that we've been waiting for!"

"Huh? Solution?"

"Just listen, the Meowzolons have the kind of tech we're in desperate need of right? Well this Ball could be just the opportunity we need to steal us some of that stuff, plus Wander and Sylvia will be there so we can capture them at the same time! We can kill two birds with one stone!" explained Peepers excitedly.

"Forget about killing birds, that's brilliant Peepers! Capturing my nemesis and stealing some awesome stuff!? I can hardly wait to finally have them trapped in my clutches!" Lord Hater exclaimed flaring his green lightening excitedly.

"Indeed sir, now what we need to do now is use this time until then to think of our plan of attack, after all they will most likely have very tight security so-… uh sir?" Peepers then realised that it was now just him and Agent Phil within the hallway.

"Where'd he go?"

"I think he said something about preparing his torture room Sir"

"*sigh* Of course he did, thank you for your report agent Phil you can have the rest of the day off"

"It was my pleasure Commander Peepers! Thank you sir!" replied Phil saluting before taking his leave. The second-in-command then went off to begin planning and preparations for this newest scheme 'even if I've got to do everything myself, I'll make it so that it will be a night that no one will ever forget!'.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry this latest chapter took so long, been busy lately with work as well as having a bit of writer's block, admittedly I'm having a hard time thinking through how this story is actually going to end. I've thought about making it a Cinderella-ish kind of ending with Wander and Dominator spending the evening together and the former never realising it's her, or something like that. Anyway I'm open to suggestions from anyone who likes this story so far and has any ideas on how it should play out.

Extra: By the way for anyone curious about the outfit Dominator's going to wear I made a picture of her wearing it and put it up on my Deviantart Gallery: art/Dress-to-Impress-620450050

The day of the ball had finally arrived. The anticipation for the event was enough to keep Lord Dominator excited, and to the relief of the galaxies inhabitants, distracted from villainy. In order to keep herself occupied and to avoid falling into boredom again she busied herself as much as possible with preparations such as what dress to wear, her make-up arrangements and her fake name and backstory in case anybody asked. It was noon and the party didn't kick off until 6pm that night so she still had time to kill, 'or rather time to kill someone else' she thought wickedly to herself.

One last thing that she was still trying to decide on for tonight was what she was going to do if the ball turned out to be boring, how she was going to wreck it.

"Hmmm maybe I could set up some explosives in multiple places around the palace and have them go off in random order? That'd be fun to watch all those dorks running in blind terror not knowing which way to escape! But then again it's a real pain to remember when and where each bot goes off so I can make a sneaky getaway…" she pondered to herself aloud.

She continued to try and come up with the most diabolical party-crashing plan she could think of but in the end she decided to just keep it simple, have her bots storm the palace from all sides and wreck up the place, not the most elaborate idea but the thought of it still gave her a giddy rush.

She then then began to wonder, what if it turned out to be fun after all? Maybe she wouldn't even need to crash the ball, but she was hard pressed to think of what could possibly make her change her mind about it.

"With all this talk of how to wreck the party if it became boring, I hadn't stop to wonder what it might actually be like, I dunno what do you think Bot 457" she asked a stationary robot beside her.

But as was the usual she got the usual blank silence in response.

"Geez! Why do I even bother asking you morons anything? At least I'll get an actual reply from anyone I talk to at the party, get some laughs from one of my jokes, hear about some of the other dork planets in this galaxy, heck I may even get a boyfriend before the night is through!" at this last statement the lime-skinned paused for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Hahahaha! Yeah right, as if that's ever going to happen! Oh, sometimes my sense of humour is just too deadly even for me".

Meanwhile in another part of the galaxy on a small marketplace planet, Wander and Sylvia were looking through stalls and their wide vibrant merchandises.

"Oh hey Sylvia check out this neat thingamajig! I can't tell if it's meant to be a kind of spatula, cleaning utensil or an instrument, what do you think? ... Sylvia?" asked Wander with his usual cheery enthusiasm.

However said friend was too enwrapped in browsing through one particular stall to register what he said. The stall in question that had Wander's Zbornak friend so distracted was full of firearms of multiple sizes.

"Hmmm, the Quartizine Laser Pistol would be easy enough to conceal if I put it in a handbag, but it doesn't have the kind of 'oomph' I like in weaponry. The Atomic FK Rifle has more of a kick to it, but it'd way too big to hide on my person so…" Sylvia mumbled to herself in deep thought, only to be snapped back to reality when Wander called out.

"Hellloooo! Sylvia! Anyone home!?"

"Huh!? Oh Wander, sorry what were you saying?"

"Well I was asking for your opinion on this weird do-hicky, but now I want to know why you're looking at guns?"

"It's just as a precaution for tonight"

"Precaution!? Sylvia, we're going to a costume party, not a hunting trip"

"But this isn't just any ordinary party Wander. This is a royal event that's gonna be full of the galaxies wealthiest, most famous and most powerful characters. Odds are, at least one super villain is going to target this event in hopes of taking hostages and or stealing some loot. And knowing our luck something like that is bound to happen, so I'm not taking any chances and bringing along some protection" explained Sylvia as she continued sifting through the options of firearms in front of her.

"I understand Syl, and I won't stop you from doing your own thing. But like you said this shindig is going to have a lot of important folks in it, so it'll also have a whole ton of security as well that'll keep out any party poopers. I don't think we'll need to worry, and who would want to ruin a ball anyway?" Wander replied before going back to look through more bizarre trinkets on sale.

"Heh, if only I had as much optimism as you buddy" snickered Sylvia to herself.

Meanwhile on the skullship Commander Peepers was going over his infiltration plan for that night's party with his fellow watchdogs and Lord Hater.

"Alright everybody, we've gone over entry points, back-up plans and diagrams outlining our plan of attack that has been distributed to each of us, are there any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one Peeps" said Hater making no effort to hide his sheer boredom of listening to his subordinate's plans.

"Okay, what is it sir?"

"This whole 'sneaking around and surprising them plan' is good in all, but where's the fun part?"

"Uhhh? Fun part Sir?"

"You know! When we capture Wander and Sylvia and start blasting the place to smithereens before taking over the planet!" replied Hater excitedly standing up in his chair flaring his lightening enthusiastically.

This only resulted in his Second-in Command to roll his eyes in exasperation, "Ugh! Sir! We've talked about this! Their planets army is ten times the size of our own with super advanced weaponry that we desperately need to get our hands on! If we go down and start a fight we'll be blasted to oblivion faster than you can say supernova! But if you stick to the plan I promise we will get Wander and Sylvia. So please, please, PLEASE! Don't do anything to blow our cover and start a riot! Otherwise nobody wins!" begged Peepers hoping to get him to see reason for once.

Hater considered Peeper's reasoning for a minute and decided he did have a point, even if it went against his usual 'attack first, ask questions later' attitude.

"Fine! I'll go along with your plan Peepers and try to keep my cool while we're there. Now if you'll excuse me..." Hater then got up to leave the meeting room.

"Uh Sir? Where are you going?"

"You take care of the rest of the plans Peepers. We'll be meeting some fancy ladies tonight so I gotta go make sure I'm lookin' swauve for tonight, plus I need to go practice my pick-up lines. See ya'!"

With a mechanical shwing the door closed as Hater exited the room leaving Peepers and the attending Watchdogs in a moment of uncomfortable deadpan silence which was eventually broken by one watchdog.

"You don't really believe he'll follow the plan do you Sir?"

"Not at all private. Which is why, while the rest of you are carrying out your assignments with your teams, I will be staying close to Lord Hater with my team to keep him out of trouble. With that said, unless there are any more questions, you're all dismissed to go and prepare for tonight's operation" he replied.

Once the Watchdogs left the room to get ready Peepers was now alone with his own thoughts on tonight's mission, 'yes, one way or another, even if I've got to hogtie Hater and lock him in a closet to make it happen, I'm going to make sure this plan succeeds without fail!'

End Note: And there it is! Chapter 3 is finally finished, sorry to leave all of you following this story hanging again. Next chapter is when the real excitement begins when they finally get to the ball. Big thanks to everyone favouring and following this story and I'll do my best to put out the next chapter sooner .


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Once again, sorry this chapter took so long. Part of the reason for the long wait was mostly because I wanted to make this one just a bit longer than the previous chapters with more going on, more descriptions on the setting and moments with each of the main characters. Another reason for the delay is partly because I recently started writing another separate Wander Over Yonder fanfic which got me a little bit side-tracked. I won't give away anything major about its plot right now, but I will tell you it'll be a much more mature and darker story than this one (nothing too extreme mostly a bit of violence and threat). Anyways hope you all enjoy this latest chapter, let me know what you think and have an awesome day!:D

(Edit: Decided to add the two other royal kids when I realised it would be a little unrealistic to think that a King and Queen who've been married for fifty years would only have the one heir)

The Royal Palace, the crown jewel of planet Meowzolon, and home to King Clawdius, Queen Purrlina, Princess Meownette, and twins Princess Felina and Prince Felino.

While only three storeys high it covered a huge expanse of land with its magnificent flower gardens, labyrinth hedge maze and even a wide sparkling lake. Within the magnificent marble building there were three huge halls decorated to the absolute fullest, each with its own purpose. One was made up for a dining area with pristinely made up tables, waiters and waitresses serving out drinks and appetisers; within the centre an all you can eat buffet filled to the brim with some of the finest delicacies from all reaches of the galaxy, from thick tender cuts of Zorgonion Bull Steaks to juicy sweet-as-sugar Margonious Tropic Fruit Salads. The second hall was done up just like a nightclub with a DJ, flashing laser lights and rave music, this was mainly for the benefit of their teenage twins Felina and Felino as well as any young guests that weren't into prim and proper parties. Whereas the third and final hall was exactly that, with its crystal chandeliers, mirrored ceiling, warm gold lighting and the live orchestra playing elegant Waltz music; it was truly a ballroom befitting royalty.

The guests that continually poured into the palace were from all reaches of the galaxy. Politicians, celebrities, nobility and even other royals such as King Drakor, Queen Demurra, Prince Cashmere and King Bingleborp were all among the honoured guests; though there were plenty more who weren't royalty or nobility who were given this once in a blue moon opportunity(such as a certain wandering pair we all know and love). The only thing more varied and diverse than the shapes, sizes and species of the invited guests were the array of outfits they were wearing for this momentous occasion; some were elegant and posh, some were dark and mysterious and then there were those that were just plain wacky, wild and brimming with colours. And then there were some, which were just too alluringly sexy to ignore, as was the case of a certain green-skinned woman to enter the palace.

For this occasion Dominator had decided to wear one of her favourite outfits she saved for nights such as this (which considering her lifestyle was few and far between). She wore a long, floor length dress with a split on one side that starts with a bright fire design at the bottom going up to her hips then turns from dark to light blue with zig-zagged short sleeves as if the flames had turned into ice. Instead of her usual yellow spike gloves she was wearing long white ones that hugged her arms to just past her elbows and to match this cold-topped ensemble she wore a large bright blue and white icicle styled mask that hid the top half of her face and covered her cheeks. Lastly she wore what appeared to be a choker round her neck with a pink heart shaped pendant, however it was actually a small disguised voice cloaking device; even though she knew most of the inhabitants on this side of the galaxy were unaware of her true appearance beneath her power armour, she made she sure to use some level of precaution before going into a situation where she could potentially be found out.

Regardless, she couldn't help but feel an inflated sense of womanly pride at having so many entranced admirers as well as some envious onlookers,

'Hehehehe well that's typical, didn't even break out the sexier big guns for this party and I'm still getting eyed up by smitten dimwits and glared daggers by their jealous dates! This just may turn out to be fun after all.'

Another pair to enter the palace grounds were everyone's favourite travelling do-gooders Wander and Sylvia in their own vibrant outfits for this occasion. Along with his signature green hat Wander wore a cobalt blue dress suit with gold trimming, shiny black and white dance shoes and a matching blue gold masquerade eye mask while Sylvia wore a long violet and green dress decorated to look like feathers with a matching mask and a black handbag slung over her shoulder.

"Boy they really pulled out all the stops when setting up this party, eh Wander?"

"Well when celebrating a momentous milestone as fifty years of marriage you want to make it extra super special! So watcha' wanna do first Syl? Explore the gardens, get down to dancin', dig into some grub or do a bit of mingling?"

"Well I dunno about you bud, but I'm starving! Been saving my appetite all day for tonight and I'm raring to see what they got to eat in this joint"

"Sounds good to me Sylvia, this party's going on all night so we got plenty of time for everything! Lets' hurry on in!" replied Wander while tugging his best pal like an exuberant child at a theme park.

Unbeknownst to them just over ten feet behind them, behind a few more arriving alien couples were a very clearly disguised Lord Hater and Commander Peepers! Both were wearing full cover masks and matching robes that completely covered their bodies in order to try and eliminate any risk of being discovered; to the untrained eye their outfits would fool everyone, however to anyone who already knew what they looked like it wasn't hard to figure it out.

"Okay sir, we've gotten through the guards at the gates without a hitch, it's a good thing we were able to bully those dukes into handing over their golden tickets otherwise just getting in might've been a challenge. Now all we gotta do is play it cool and…uh sir? Sir? Lord Hater are you even listening!?"

"He's right there Peepers" Lord Hater growled in response while keeping his attention pointed to something ahead.

"He? Who are y- oh no!" Peepers then realised what, or rather who, had caught his masters attention from the distinctive green hat he could make out through the crowd.

"Sir, now before you do anything rash-"

"I could take him out right now! Just one carefully aimed lightning blast right through the back of the head from here and I'd get 'em!" Hater growled excitedly with slight flashes of green electricity around his gloved hands.

"SIR! Please stop and for once just listen for one second!" exclaimed Peepers angrily before realising they were drawing attention to themselves and quickly pulled Hater into one of the side paths away from the crowd.

"HEY! What did you do that for!? I could've-" but before Hater could start another angry rant, Peepers intervened.

"You wouldn't have done anything! Now listen, we need to stick to the plan remember!? If you start picking a fight and causing a scene now, we'll blow our cover. And if that happens we'll be left completely empty-handed, no new weaponry, no new technology for the ship and even no Wander and Sylvia! Understand?"

"UUUGGGHHH! Geez I hate it when you have to be a buzzkill like that Peeps!"

"DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND. SIR!?"

"Okay, okay fine I understand. I'll play it cool like in your plan or whatever. But don't forget, I ain't leaving this party without that little weirdo! Got it!?"

"I got it sir, thank you" sighed Peeper in relief.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go check out what kind of lady action they got going on around here" And with that last cringe-worthy statement Hater strutted off towards one of the dance halls, leaving his second-in-command to facepalm himself in embarrassment.

"Phew! Managed to dodge a bullet there" Just then his headset hidden under the hood crackled from an incoming transmission.

" _News update Commander Peepers from squad 3 Private Evans"_

"I read you loud and clear Private, what's your status?"

" _We've just breached the outer level of the Meowzolon Weapons Department, looks like you were right sir there's hardly any guards here, most of them are probably at that party right now."_

"Don't get cocky soldier, you're only in the outer perimeter there's bound to be someone guarding the inner compound and it's gonna be full of traps and other security measures, so stay alert and keep me posted."

" _Roger that"._

"So far so good, now all I gotta do is keep Hater under control, check in on the squad's progress from time to time and, if Grop willing, we should be home free!" Peepers declared confidently before chasing after Hater.

An hour had passed since the festivities had started and with the arrival of almost all of the invited guests, the ball was in full swing. Couples were dancing, friends were chatting, diners were dining and everyone seemed to be having a really great time; all except for an exceptionally bored young woman in a fire/ice styled dress. At first Dominator had had some fun teasing a few love-struck admirers with her usual deviant glances and purposefully annoying any of their dates who happen to catch them staring or flirting on the sly; however once the novelty of that had worn off she pondered what to do next but found herself coming up blank. Although she would never say it to anyone, she had to admit this was one of those occasions where it would have been more fun to have a friend by her side; however she refused to call it quits and risk falling into boredom again for the rest of the night.

'Good Grop! I didn't think I would get bored this quickly! Ugh whatever, all this noise around here's giving me a headache anyway, guess I'll go outside and clear my head'

She then headed out through the large open doors to the palace gardens, but failed to notice that her choker/Voice Cloaker had slipped from her neck and dropped to the floor. Both she and the abandoned piece of jewellery did not go unnoticed by two separate individuals, both with very different motivations.

"Haaaa, much better!" sighed Dominator while stretching her arms in the cool night air. Most of the guests were inside the palace so the gardens were very secluded and quiet apart from the chirping of crickets. Even though it wasn't her preferred kind of scenery which normally involved fire and desolation, Dominator couldn't help but be impressed by the beauty of the plant life around her. The flowers had not long been watered by the sprinklers and were still dripping with moisture and in the moonlight it made them shimmer and sparkle as though the stars themselves had descended from above to rest upon the plush petals. She continued wandering through the gardens admiring the varied plant life, but it wasn't until she entered the hedge maze that an ominous chill ran up her spine followed by the realisation that she wasn't alone in there.

With her nerves on full alert, she quickened her pace through the maze, taking as many turns as she could while looking for the nearest exit. Normally she would be ready and itching for a confrontation, but when she didn't have her power armour on and no Dom-bots to back her up she felt she needed to be more cautious, early years of misguided bravado and embarrassing one-sided fights had taught her to be more careful when and with whom to pick a fight. After a few minutes of wandering and still no sign of whoever was following her, she started to wonder if she had just been imagining things, until she turned another corner and came face to chest with a very obviously drunk guard.

"Heya *hic* honey, whuza pretty li'le thing like you wanderin' round the *hic* garden at night?" he slurred with a very pervy look on his face.

Everything about the guy made Dominator want to punch his teeth out, from the way his eyes kept leering at certain parts of her body, his too-close-for comfort breath rancid with alcohol to the ridiculously stupid grin on his furry tabby-like face. Still, she regained her composure and replied in a tone she hoped would convey her disgust toward him,

"Just felt like getting some air. I going back in now"

But as she turned to walk away she felt her wrist get tugged back slightly by a furry clawed hand.

"Hey, hey wait*hic* a sec honey! Don't go leavin' slo soon! The night's zo purdy out here*hic* tonight! Kinda romantic even, why don'tcha sit wi' me a while huh? ya cute thang?*burp* excuzze me" he slurred giddily never loosening his grip on her arm.

Dominator felt her blood boiling just from the sight of him and him belching only added fuel to flame rising within her. Right then she was about to let loose her fury upon him disregarding any other thought of keeping her cool when a very angry formal voice intervened.

"TABBYTON! WHAT ARE YOU UP TO NOW!?"

Both she and the now named Tabbyton looked up to find another tabby-cat looking guard standing with an angry glare that would melt icebergs on his face. The appearance of this guard seemed to instantly sober up Tabbyton who immediately released Dominator's hand and put up both hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Oh! Hey! Cousin, uhhh, fancy seeing you there! Um, I was just…uh…just e-escorting this young lady back to the party! Hehehe!" he nervously laughed in hopes of diffusing this clearly bad situation.

Needless to say this failed miserably as evident from the increased irritation in his cousin's expression. In one huge lunge he was right beside his cousin gripping and twisting his pointed ear tightly in one hand while all his victim could do is squirm helplessly.

"You really know how to embarrass us both don't you!? I swear if you weren't my cousin I would have tossed your drunken hide out of the royal guard a long time ago!" He growled viciously at his pathetic kin. While still retaining said grip he turned to Dominator who by this point was well over her anger and now trying to keep herself from laughing at her would-be punching bag.

"I deeply apologise for my subordinate's disgraceful behaviour miss. I would hate to think what might have happened if your companion hadn't informed me of his and your whereabouts!"

"Huh oh, yeah well I should think so! If you hadn't-… wait? My companion?" she started but then stopped when she realised exactly what he just said.

"There you are my dear! Boy you sure had me worried for sec there!" called an overly cheerful and yet all too familiar voice.

End note: And there it is! Boy that definitely took a lot longer to finish than expected! Like I said previously I wanted to make this chapter much longer than the previous ones and have more going on, admittedly there was going to be more after this point in the story but I wanted to have this finished before the new year came and on the plus side I know where to start off on the next chapter. Although much like this one it may not be submitted for a while, plus there's the other WOY fanfic I mentioned that I'll probably put out before the next chapter's ready. Anyways I hope you all have enjoyed this latest update and I wish all of you a happy new year!:D


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note** : Once again sorry for the long wait, it was the usual delays and hold-ups such as work, writer's block and to all those who follow me some new recent fanfictions I've been working on. Anyway hope you all enjoy his latest chapter and have an awesome day!:D

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"Ah, Sir Wander there you are! I apologise for running ahead of you like that, I wanted to find my 'subordinate' as quickly as possible."

"Oh no worries, I'm just glad you found my friend when you did!"

So many questions were running through Dominator's head at that moment, the main ones being 'what the heck is THAT scruffy dork doing here!?' 'Who's he calling Friends!?' 'How come he didn't rad me out!? Or does he not recognise me in this get up either?' All these questions were put on hold when she realised the guards attention was back to her.

"Are you alright Miss? You seem a bit shaken, *gasp* my cousin didn't hurt you did he!?"

At this he gripped Tabbyton's ear tighter making him whine and squirm pathetically.

"OW! OW! OW! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING I SWEAR COUSIN!"

At this point Dominator had to bite her lower lip just to keep herself from laughing at this display of agony, she even considered telling him some made up story of assault on her person just to make it last longer. That is until a certain fuzzy wanderer stepped in.

"Now, now there's no need to pull your cousin's ear off. My pal here is a lot tougher than she looks, we'll just be a minute and then we'll head back to the festivities"

"Well alright then, you two enjoy the rest of the evening…and as for YOU!"

He then turned still clutching his cousin's ear and dragged him off still scolding him for his behaviour. Once he had left and his angry voice had faded out of earshot there was a moment of awkward silence apart from the distant music from the hall. Dominator was still unsure whether or not Wander actually recognised her or not and didn't know what to say that wouldn't blow her cover, however Wander beat her to the punch and broke the silence first.

"By the way you dropped this back in the dance hall, be a real shame to lose a necklace as pretty as this!"

And there in his outstretched hand was her black choker with the heart pendant, she hadn't even realised that it had slipped form her neck. She quickly took it from his hand muttering a slight thanks before inwardly scolding herself for speaking in her undisguised voice in-case he still doesn't recognise her. She fiddled for a moment trying to put it back around her neck when Wander spoke up again.

"Need a hand there Dominator?"

"N-no, no I've got this I-…wait a minute!?"

She then accidentally let the choker slip from her hands in shock, just for Wander to catch it again while give her a knowing smile.

"H-how!? When did you-!? I don't even-! What's going on here!?"

"Well as I'm sure you've noticed we're at a party silly, that's what's going on!"

"Wha- NO! I mean what's the deal with you!? You knew it was me!? Why didn't you tell that guard!? Why haven't you alerted the King and Queen? Why didn't-!"

"Woah there sweetheart, one question at a time there. Why don't you sit on down on that bench over there while I fix your choker back on, and then I'll answer any question you got, okay?"

On any other day Dominator would never turn her back to a potential threat or enemy, and any time someone held something to her neck it was either to strangle her or to slit her throat. Yet here she was, sitting with her back turned to someone who was essentially her opposite in morals tying an ironically named piece of jewellery around her neck, while humming a cheerful tune as if he was folding laundry or cooking breakfast or any other mundane task. Needless to say she was incredibly confused by the situation, but it did give her a much needed moment to clear her head and think through her confusion.

"There now, pretty as a picture" Wander said cheerfully before taking a seat next to the villainess.

"Uh thanks, I guess"

"You're entirely welcome, now then I believe you wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yeah if you knew it was me why didn't you just warn the other guard about who I really am?"

"That's a good question! And if this was any other occasion I probably would've done just that, raised the alarm and helped to evacuate the building in case of an incoming attack. But somethin' tells me there's not gonna be one, at least not from you anyway"

"Huh? What do you-?"

"I understand you're confusion so lemme explain. If you really were here to stir up trouble, you'd have done it by now. Stormed in with your dom-bot army shootin' lava and ice all over the place and then shot down your big ol' drill into the planet and been done with it. But judging from your get up, which absolutely gorgeous by the way, that's not what you came here for, is it?"

At first Dominator was unsure of how to respond to all that and was surprised by how perceptive he was for a travelling bum.

"W-well the answer to that is kind of yes and no."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah that's kind of my back up plan if this party turns out to be boring"

"I see, well I can't say I'm surprised"

"That's it? Aren't you worried or going to try and stop me or anything!?"

"Well I don't think there'll be any need for that, after all you did say that's only a back-up plan for boredom. In fact I'll bet that's the main reason you came here tonight."

"Huh? How would you know something like that?"

"Well when you do the same thing over and over for a while even if it's something you really enjoy, you're bound to get bored eventually. I'll admit every now and again helping other folk's gets tiresome and even I need to take some time off to have some fun for myself, otherwise it just becomes a dull chore with little satisfaction. So I reckon you came here tonight all dressed up and glamourous was to take a break from villainy."

Now Dominator was REALLY taken aback by just how well this hillbilly sounding furball could read her! And with her mind running on blank on anything else she just said the first thing that came to her.

"Dude are you some kind of mind reader?"

This resulted in Wander chuckling heartily causing Dominator to blush deeply and feel incredibly stupid for asking.

"Hehehe no, I've just got a lot of experience in reading people's feelings and figuring out their motives."

"I see, so what happens now? If you're not going to rad me out then what do you plan on doing knowing that I'm around?"

"Hmmm well I guess just continue what I was doing before and go have some fun of course! Only with company"

"Company? Oh you mean with that Zbornak friend of yours" for a moment the thought of ending their conversation and splitting up for the rest of the night disappointed her.

"Well although Sylvia is here, I was thinking of perhaps you and me spending some together"

"Say what? Are you for real?"

"Absolutely, I mean let's be honest a party's not nearly as fun if you're on your lonesome. In fact this could even be a fun little challenge! You down for somethin' like that?"

"Um…I guess so, what kind of challenge are we talking about here?" asked a now very intrigued Dominator.

"Just call it a little contest of will strength, I keep you entertained for the night so you won't need to destroy the party and on your end you have to be on your best behaviour, that means no rudeness and no beatin' up folks otherwise the deal's off and I sound the alarm. So what do you say?" Wander explained enthusiastically with a slight serious tone near then end.

Dominator took a moment to consider this offer, on the one hand her villainess instincts were telling her to punch the little goody-two-shoes for talking to her so condescendingly about good behaviour. But on the other hand it did sound like a pretty reasonable deal, she couldn't deny that she'd started to feel bored being on her own so part of her welcomed the company and it did sound like it might be quite fun.

So after a moment of consideration she turned to Wander "alright, since I literally got nothing better going on tonight, I guess I can agree to a one-night truce" she said before holding out her hand. Wander had to bite his lip to hold back a squee of excitement and shook her hand in an incredibly enthusiastic handshake.

"Oh thank you Miss Domiantor! I promise to make this night extra super special just for you! I know it's gonna be a blast! … not literally of course hehehe!"

"Uh, yeah sure hehehe… so what should we do now?"

"Well ol' Sylvia's still chowing down on some grub right now, so I could really use a dance partner right now" replied Wander with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"D-dancing!?"

"Yeah, you do know how dance right?"

"Of course I do! It's just-" she paused for a moment fumbling for the right words "I'm just a little out of practice is all" she finished with an embarrassed mumble. The truth was Dominator was actually a really good dancer, however the thought of dancing with a partner was new and strange to her but she sure as heck wasn't going tell him that.

Wander just gave her a knowing smile, took her hand and said "aww no worries, we'll take it slow and it'll be fun"

They started walking back towards the dance hall together in relative silence, but it didn't feel awkward. At first Dominator had tensed up when Wander took her hand and lead the way, but as they strolled together she found herself feeling relaxed, at ease and just comfortable with his touch. Just as they had arrived back to the hall entrance Wander stopped and turned to her.

"Oh that's right I totally forgot to ask earlier, but what should I call you for tonight? Shouldn't go round calling ya' by your villain name in front of all these folks" he asked.

Dominator paused for a moment, this whole incident had left her memory muddled and even the fake backstory she came up with had slipped her mind. But after a moment of contemplation, she gave him a name, a name she hadn't heard in a long time, but it was the first one that came to mind.

"Dawn, just for tonight, call me Dawn"

"Gosh what a lovely name! Well then lets' go and enjoy this night together Milady Dawn" replied Wander genteelly before leading a blushing Dominator back into the fray of festivities.

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 **End Note** : Phew! Finally after five months the new chapter to this WOY fic is finally here. Here we finally have some interaction between Wander and Dominator which I've got to admit was pretty fun to come up with. In this story I wanted Wander to seem a lot more knowing and wiser than he appears, as well as keeping up with his usual positive, cheerful and all around nice guy personality. I also decided to add little hints about Dominator's past to explain her current personality mainly concerning her trust in others or lack thereof. From here on out things should start to get interesting between them as the story progresses. Anyway I'm rambling a little bit here, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a comment and have a great day!:D


	6. Message To Followers

**Quick message to all followers of this story**

Hey there everybody I just want to put up a temporary update to let you all know that for the time being I'm putting this story on hold for a little while. Don't worry, I am NOT giving up on this story, I haven't lost interest and I really want to see it through to the end just as much as all of you do. However I feel as though I have too much to work on with more than one ongoing story, which is why I'm just going to put this one on a temporary hiatus for now so I can put all my energy into and focus on updating my other fanfiction The Howling Leopard. I'm really sorry for those of you who are really enjoying this story of mine and want to see it continue, all of your positive feedback has been awesome and hearing how much you all like it really makes my day!:D But don't worry, like I said I really want to eventually finish this story, so until I've finished the other one this is going on a temporary break and will be continued at some point in the future.

Hope you all understand and have an awesome day!


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